Gasolene-engine starter.



H. L. KRNAHRENS. GASOLENE ENGINE STARTER. APLIoATIoN FILED JUNI; 20, 1910 Patented Sept.l 5, 1911.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIzoE.

.f HENRY L. KORNAHRENS, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

GASOLENE-ENGINE STARTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed .T une 20, 1810. Seriai 16m-567,826.

j To all who-m 'it may concern;

Be it known that I, HENRY L. KORN'H- RENS, citizen ofthe United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gasolene-Engine y Starters, of which .the following is a specification.

tion on line X X, Fig, 2.

Aor -while the mechanism is connected -with 'the crank shaft, Y 1t also comprises the combination of parts and details -of construction which will .be

more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which-- Figure 1 isa lan. view showing my ap-A paratus and its 'onnection' with the end'ofy the crank shaft. Figs. 2 vand 3 are details of the automatic disengaging mechanism, Fig. 2 being a lpla-n view and Fig. B a sec-- In order to dispense with the .crank which is usually employed for starting interna-l combustion engines such --as pare employedfor automobile. and like motors, I have desi ed 'a mechanism which lmay be connectexwiththe crank shaft and given a rotary movement which rwill revolve theshaft ,oneA

' or more revolutions "or'parts thereof, untily the engine cylinders f, have been char ed -With an explosive mixture, and the ignition 'offwhich will set the engine in motion.4

As" shown in the drawing, A may repre- L sent a'radiator or front portion of an automobile or similar vehicle, and 2 represents I the forward end ofM the crank shafhthrough .whichpoweris applied to drivethecar.'y

`3 isa,"memberof a clutch vwhich is carl ried bythe front end of the crank shaft,` and-r4 4is the correspondingclutch member carried by 'a 'spil-'ally grooved, turnable' shaft 5, which is j ournaled indine with vthe crank shaft2, and is movable lengthwise so as to engage-crdisengage .with thecrank shaft.'

e is slide, move-bien guides 7, which are parallel to the spirally grooved shaft 5,

and are here shown as located upon opposite sides lof said shaft. The slide 6 is connected by pivots 8 with a lever 9, which leveris preferably. made of two parallel members suitably connected together and receiving one of the pivots 8 in each ofthe members, these pivots projecting from o posite sides ofthe slide 6. The lever-9 is lcrumed at any suitable or desired point, as at 10, and the oppositearm or lever is so connected that it may be moved about its pivot, and thusca'use theslide to move from one end to the other. of the Space between t-he guides 7. i

As a convenient method of operating this device so that the driver need `not leave his` seat, I have shown a rod or link 11 pivoted to the outer free end ofthe lever, as' shown .at 12, and the opposite end may be connect- Ved with a hand lever, or other 'suitableactuating device, as at 18, so that by pulling upon this hand lever the lever 9 will be correspondingly moved backwardly about' Patented sept. 5, 1911.

its fulcrum, and the slide 6 will be moved with it.

shaft 5, which has the spiral groovesfin it, a

the s demember,` 6, so that it may be moved radially* with 'relation to the shaft 5. It is normally retained Lin contact with the'shaft by a spring 1,5, so that the point of the pawl will drop into one of the spiral grooves 5a.

The operation of the devicewill then be as'follows:

equivalent spring 16, and when the lever 9 is pulled by its connection, it carries with it the slide 6, and as the pawl or pawls 14 engage' a spiral grooveor channel 5a in the "shaft, it will beseen that the shaftwill be caused to revolve. `At the first impulse of the pull `of/,the 'lever 9, the tension of the spring 1 6-is overcome, and the teeth of the clutch members 3 Iand 4 Abecome engaged, sol v that'the revolution of the shaft 5a will becommunicated to the crank shaft2, withthe results which follow the turning of the crank `shaft by hand or-other mea'ns.

On-[th'e release-of the actuatingV lever, the slide 6v willgbe returned to` its normal position. 1,The first 'movement toward this return, releasesthe end pressure which maintains the members "3, of the clutch in enpawl 14 is ,slidable in suitable guides in In order to communicate motion to the` When the clutch members 3 i Vand 4 are-normally separated by a spiral or charge islt'oofar advanced, the first movegagement andthespring 16 forces them apart, thus leaving the spiral shaft free to revolve independent of any movement fof. the engine shaft which may now `be running regularly in the proper direction.

The return .movement of the slide 6 may be accomplished either manually or, as here shown, by Lmeans of springs 17. connected withthe slide in any suitable manner.

' case, where the s rings are connected with lSuch a method is, illustrated in the present 'the slide by '-iexi le cords 18 passing over `direc`tion pulleys, as at 19.

I-f .the lever which controls the electric spark-producing device for ignition of the mentof the engine being very slow,` .the lcharge may be ignited in the cylmder be- I 4fore the crank-has reached the center point,

in which case a reversev or act-ion of the en- .gine/called a"kickwill'take place. In

order to vprovide forI lsuch a reverse movement'of the engine, and preventits doinga-ny damage, I have shown the pawl-pin 14 having upon-its upper` end a disk vor head 20.

cal pivot pins, and normally held in a cerklt-aii'rpositionby springs, asiat 22. These cams are-turnable beneath the head Q20 in' such manner that 4when 'turned they will raise-this head, and withit the pawl pin '14,' which will thus be disengaged from the spinny grooved shaft'. t' z' The operation by which this is effected is as follows: "The'cams 21 have teeth 23 formed. upon their periphery, and these teeth are adapted to engage with corresponding teeth 24, which are here shown as being carried bythe guides 7 The cams 21 are held normally in a certain position by the s rings l'22 and lin this rposition when the sli e 6Y is y moved so as to rotate the shaft and start the engine, the' pawl teeth 23 will move freely f over the stationary rackteeth 24, during the pull upon the lever, lWh'ich'is designed to stmt /should be in position to start the reverse Way, as previously mentioned, the tendency 55f`cams fwillxengage with the head' '20.. ofthe thecams 21, and the upper edges of. these ,"pawl, and-'thus lift the pawl14 out -of enent is'- gagement vwith thecamgrooves 5, This will allow a free backward Amovement ofthe shaft withoutl in any wa-y. acting upon the connected mechanism or the person who -InayA bey operatinit.7. f Having th i us described.myrv invention,.what I claim and-desire to vsecure by Letters Patstarting device for internal combusf' e engine'. lf, however, the :engine tion engines, said device including a spirally grooved shaft contiguous to the engine crank shaft,a .disengageable clutch connection between said shafts, a Vspring-pressed pawl adapted to engage the spiral groove `and yieldable radiallyof the grooved shaft, and means movable lengthwise of 4the .shaft whereby the pawl'may be moved to revolve the grooved shaft. 'f

2. A starting device for internal combustion engines, said device including ja spiral] grooved shaft contiguous to the engine cranl shaft, a disengageable clutch connection beL tween. said sha ts, a spring-pressed pawl adapted to engage the 4spiral groove, aslide movable lengty wise of .the shaft by which the pawlis carried, said pawl being yield- 'able' radially 'of theshaft, and mechanism to rreciprocate the slide wherebg the pawl imparts rotation :to the groove shaft.

3. A starting device forV internal combus` tion engines, including Aa. spirally grooved 'shaft conti ous to the engine crank shaft, a disengagea le clutch connection between said shafts, a pawl adapted to engage the spiral grooves, a slide operable lengthwise of .the grooved shaft by which' the pawl vis carried, mechanism to reciprocate the slide, and cams vengaging the pawl to disengage the pawl from the groove.

A starting device for internal combustion engines, including a spirallygrooved 'shaft contiguous to the engine crank shaft, a

dlsengagea'ble clutch connection between said shafts, a pawl adapted to-'engage the spiral groovesya slide by which the pawl is carried, mechanism' to reciprocate the slide,

vand means' to disengage the pawl from the groove,said mechanism including revoluble cams, a head upon the pawl with which the camsmay engage, and means to revolve the "cams 5. IA startingdevice for'internal'combustion' engines, including .a'spirally grooved shaft contiguous to the engine crank shaft, a

disengageable clutch connection between v said shafts, a pawl adapted to engage the spiralgrooves, a slide by which the Vpawl is carried, mechanism to reciprocate the slide, ,means to disengage the pawl from the groove, said mechanism comprising rotatable cams adapted lto engage and lift the pawl and havingteeth, and rack bars with which .said teeth may engage.

6. A startin 'device .for internal combustion engines, mcludinga spirally grooved shaft conti nous to theengine crank shaft, a disengagea lel clutch connection between 'said shafts, a pawl adapted to .engage the spiral grooves, a guided'slide movable parallel with the Jaxesjof the shafts and by which the pawllis carried, a fulcrluned lever withwhich the slide is connected, and a l hand or foot-levery and intermediate connection.

CTT

7; A starting device for internal combus tion engines, including a spirally grooved shaft contiguous to the engine crank shaft, a disengageable clutch connection between said shafts, a pawl adapted to engage thev spiral grooves, a guided slide by which the pawl is carried, rotatable cams adapted to engage and lift the pawl out of the groove, said cams having teeth, and toothed racks over which the cam teeth move without engagement in one direction and are engaged to turn .the cams and release the pawl when' the crank shaft turns reversely.

The combination with the crank shaft of an internal combustionV engine, of a spirally grooved countershaft in line with the crank shaft, means to engage the shafts to turn in one direction, a lever mechanism and connections therewith slidable lengthwise of the shaft and adapted to revolve the spirally grooved countershaft, said connections inf cluding a slide having a spring-pressed pawl which is movable radially of the grooved shaft during the operation of the slide.

an operating lever by which the slide is actuated, and a release by means of which the two shafts may be automatically disengaged, said release comprising a device for positively withdrawing the radially movable member of the slide out of engagement with the groove of the countershaft.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HENRY L. KORNAHRENS- Witnesses:

G. H. Simone, CHARLES EDELMAN.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner u ratents,

. Washington, 1). C. 

